


Wounded Pride

by WonderstruckSwan



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Blood and Injury, F/M, Injury, Neverland (Once Upon a Time)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 11:24:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13635309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WonderstruckSwan/pseuds/WonderstruckSwan
Summary: While searching for Henry, Emma gets wounded and Hook helps her.





	Wounded Pride

**Author's Note:**

> Yes terrible summary

Emma couldn’t hold back a yelp of pain as the Lost Boy buried his dagger in her side. Bile rose in her throat as she toppled sideways, crashing into a tree. She barely noticed the bark digging into her skin, the pain from the injury flooding her mind. She let her eyes close and her muscles relax as she tried to pull herself together enough to think of something, anything, but her thoughts were too scrambled, like her brain was on static.

“Swan?” Just what she needed. “Swan are you all right?” All the sarcasm, bravado, arrogance of his usual tone was stripped away, his vice instead inching closer and closer to panic.

“Fine,” she grunted, opening her eyes. He stood just close enough to her so she could hear him, arms extended awkwardly, like he wanted to help her but didn’t want to get close. She pressed her hand harder on the wound. “Just a cut.”

“Aye you look positively radiant.” And just like that, the sarcasm was back. In truth, she was glad it was back, because anything else would suggest the wound was serious. Which it wasn’t because she was absolutely fine. “Swan is that blood?”

“Mind your own damn business,” she snapped, giving him a weak glare. “I’m fine.” She pushed herself off the tree, ignored the way the world tilted as she did so and made to leave. She made it a total of five steps before she ran out of breath and felt herself sink to her knees. A warm hand grabbed her right arm while a cold metal encircled her left.

“You’re all right,” he whispered in her ear. She hated how soft his voice was, how concerned he was for her. If he was an asshole, maybe trying to dislike him would be a lot easier. Having virtually no strength left she let him lift one of her arms and put it over his shoulders, lead her to another tree, one with enough light to let him see her properly, and set her down against the trunk. “May I?”

“Always a gentleman,” she snorted, recalling their adventure on the beanstalk. “Sure.”

She let him roll up her shirt, lifting one hand to hold it in place for him. She flinched when she heard him draw in a sharp breath.

“How bad is it?” she asked weakly.

“Not fatal,” he replied. “But you are going to need stitches.”

“Great,” she huffed. “How the heck am I going to get….” Her voice trailed off when she saw him take a needle and threat out of his coat. “Seriously?”

“Prepared for every occasion,” he said cheerfully. “And you never know when you may need to perform first aid on a shipmate. Or yourself on the off day.” She saw him take out a cloth and his flask as well.

“You better not be thinking about taking a swing,” she croaked. “Not when you’re saving my life.”

“Don’t be over-dramatic, Swan,” he said. “And besides the rum isn’t for me.” He poured the drink onto the cloth and began scrubbing her wound.

Emma let out every possible curse word she knew. While the stab would had been a dull throbbing kind of pain, this stung, making her arch her back off the tree and dig her fingernails into the ground. She squeezed her eyes shut against the tears.

“Sorry about that, love,” he said sheepishly. “But we can’t have you getting infections, can we?” He gave her a rough shake to get her attention. It took a few seconds, but she managed to focus on him. “Emma I’m going to start sewing it shut, okay?” She nodded, slightly dazed, and he helped her take a drink of rum. She gagged as it burned her throat. “It’ll help with the pain. Are you ready?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Just get it over with.”

She clamped her lips together to stop her from screaming as she felt the needle break her skin. She thought back to when she was a teenage and pierced her own ears with a needle. That had hurt like the devil and at least then her ears were numb. She found herself with her hand clamped on Hook’s arm. He was whispering comforts to her, but she couldn’t hear them over the sound of her own laboured breathing and whimpering. She only dared open one eye when the pain began to subside and the felt his hand on her arm.

“It’s over, love,” he told her. “You’re okay.”

Wordlessly she let him help her to her feet, but he refused to allow her to stand on her own. In truth she was grateful, she knew she wouldn’t make three paces before collapsing. Still, she did everything she could not to lean onto him, bury her cheek in that leather coat of his.

Naturally, her parents were beside themselves when their daughter emerged using Captain Hook as a crutch, pale white and her shirt covered in blood. Emma rushed through the story of how a Lost Boy stabbed her and how Hook had performed first aid. She avoided her father’s eyes at that last one.

Mary Margaret was still not convinced she would be okay, to which Hook gave a mock gasp, making Emma laugh. She set about looking for bandages and fished a few out of her pack, wrapping them tightly around her. When Emma winced at the pain in her side, she frowned.

“Isn’t there something to help with the pain?” she asked. “Hook aren’t there any medicinal plants on the island?”

“I assure you the last thing Pan wants on this island is medicine,” he huffed, but Emma noticed the moment when he thought no-one was watching him, how sad he looked. It was gone quickly, replaced by a teasing grin. “There’s rum.”

“Better than nothing,” Emma sighed. Smiling, Hook handed her his flask and she took a swig. “Still disgusting.”

Drowsiness set in quickly, with the pain from the injury, the energy she put into not screaming and the rum all catching up on her. David noticed her eyelids flickering and helped her to the blankets she had been calling a bed since they arrived. If she had been more aware, she probably would have protested that she didn’t need to be helped into bed, that finding Henry was more important than her. Instead she let him pull the blankets over her shoulder and stroke her hair fondly.

Emma opened her eyes and looked at what they were doing. Hook, her parents and Regina were sitting together, talking about something she couldn’t quite hear. Hook turned and caught her looking. He mouthed "sleep Swan" but he smiled at her. Not the know it all smile, not the arrogant ass smile, but something softer and kinder.

Despite everything, she slept soundly.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been rewatching the Neverland arc. Comments appreciated :)


End file.
